


An Echo of what he Used to Be

by saltyb0ba



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:07:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22942249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyb0ba/pseuds/saltyb0ba
Summary: Steven was hit by Spinel's rejuventator and survived, but lost all his memories. It's up to the Crystal Gems and Connie to get his memories back and make sure that all of Earth doesn't perish in the process.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. bad bad bad bad bad bad bad

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, Spinel still believes Steven is Pink Diamond, despite her seeing the broadcast.

It was 4 days after the accident. He was barely breathing. Spinel had hit him with her rejuvenator, resetting his gem and leaving him in a horrible state, scars and blood appearing everywhere. The Gems have her bubbled now, sure, but she was bound to pop soon. They just wanted to keep Steven safe. Steven now resided in his bed, hooked up to an IV because he wasn’t getting enough blood circulating in his system. He was propped up with pillows, because sitting upright helps get more air in. He was awake and conscious in his mind the whole time he was passed out.

It was an empty void. He couldn’t see, touch or feel anything besides what was happening outside. All he heard were screams of Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst probably directed towards Spinel as he felt a coarse tongue roll over his cuts. Then a light appeared in the pitch black of his mind.

_..I need to get close to that light, to get out of this purgatory. They must all be worried about me. _

He started to walk on nothing, slowly breaking into a run as he felt his strength gather. It was so close. He was so close. Then he touched it. A burst of light flooded his senses. He felt himself opening his eyes and coming back into the real world. It was night, and the only thing that kept him awake the rest of that night was the feeling of the IV needle trickling blood into his bloodstream. He was dressed in what he was wearing the day he “died”, a light blue shirt with a yellow star donning the front, jeans, and a light pink jacket, stained in multiple spots with blood and grass stains.

He couldn’t remember anything since that day. What happened, his memories, and what these stains were doing on him. He rolled up his jacket to see tons of stitches neatly arranged in lines. Maybe they were for  _ those? _ He didn’t know. All he knew was that he was  **meant to be here.**

“Steven!! Dude, you’re awake!” Amethyst saw him while she was on the stairwell, she was worried about him and made it her daily routine to sit there for at least 30 minutes, if not more, to make sure he was okay. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been!” She gave him a hug, and Steven reacted with a flood of confusion and pain. The hug hurt his cuts, and he felt like he was supposed to know who she was. He knew it was going to hurt her to tell the truth, but he just couldn’t pretend like he knew her.

“I’m sorry, but  _ who  _ are you?” Steven asked with a puzzled look on his face. Amethyst stopped hugging him and backed up.

“Don’t play this game with me, Steven! Especially now that you’ve been out for almost a week!” Amethyst stated with a worried expression. She put her hands on her hips.

“I’m really sorry to tell you this, but I actually don’t know you.” He was sad, as it visibly hurt her.

“..Steven? You serious?” She put her hands down.

“Yes. I’m sorry.” He looked down at his sheets while Amethyst started to tear up. She held them back successfully, and then started down the stairs.

“What did she  _ do _ to you?” She muttered tearily under her breath. She  _ had _ to tell Garnet and Pearl about this. They had to know, she couldn’t let it be a surprise.

Meanwhile, Steven was thinking hard. Trying to remember who he was. That Gem knew his name, so he must’ve known her. Her reaction told him they were also very close. He felt  _ really, really bad.  _ He tried to get up, to try to comfort her, but felt a searing pain in his legs. He tried to keep the pain quiet, but had to let out a little groan. Luckily, no one heard.

  
  


*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*

“What do you _mean_ he doesn’t remember you??” Pearl said in a frantic voice. She started to pace back and forth, putting her hand on her chin, her other hand supporting her elbow. “He’s--he’s **_Steven!_** He’s _ok,_ right? Oh my stars, did Spinel’s rejuvenator **_do_** something to him??!?” She started to breathe faster, her voice getting higher and frantic. Then she felt an arm stop her.

“Pearl, it’s ok. I see so many futures where he remembers us, I can assure you he’ll be fine,” She tried to smile, but there were futures she was keeping secret. It was hard to lie, now that their bond is stronger than ever. But her plan worked and Pearl calmed down. Then she turned to Amethyst. “What did he say to you?”

“He asked me who I was. I don’t think he remembers us anymore.” Her face was solemn as she turned to face the ground. She was heartbroken. Someone she had known all her life, someone Rose wanted to create, someone who had _ bonded with her, _ was now “gone”. Sure, he was still here, but the memories, everything, was gone. It was just something she couldn’t deal with. She  _ had  _ to get him back.

“I’m heading back out, I’m finding someone who can help us.” Amethyst blurted, then opened the temple door. They were in Garnet’s room, a place where Steven could never get now, since he doesn’t even know where he is. Pearl and especially Garnet tried to stop her, but it was too late. 

“Ame-!” The door closed.

“Pearl, just let her be. She needs to get her feelings out, and the person she finds may help us.” She said with an assuring tone. Her future vision told her that it’s a 50% chance, but it’s one they have to be willing to take. 

The sun was rising.

  
  


*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*

Amethyst had planned to get Greg, but then realized that would be way too much emotion to handle. Any person seeing their child like this is gonna have a  _ harsh  _ reaction. She decided to find Connie instead. She might be used to this, her mom’s a doctor, of course! She must’ve dealt with a problem like this in  **_normal_ ** situations. Humans  _ do  _ have problems like this sometimes. 

She ran to Connie’s house, and knocked on the door.

“ **_Anyone home????_ ** ” She shouted. The door opened. It was Connie, dressed in a pj shirt and looking tired. She was startled at first, but then realized it was Amethyst.

“Oh, Amethyst! Can I help you?” She said in a carefree voice. That was about to change.  _ Real quick.  _

“Uh, well, can you come with me? I kinda need you for something.” She said, hoping that she  _ could  _ come.

“Sure! Just  _ let me get changed real quick, _ you can come in and sit on the couch, if you’d like!” She let Amethyst in, then headed upstairs. Amethyst didn’t sit on the couch, the mood was too unsettling. It was a quick minute, then Connie came down and was wearing a white shirt and jeans. 

_ Perfect,  _ Amethyst thought.  _ Your clothes might be the thing to get him back on track.  _

“Well, c’mon, lead the way! What are we waiting for?” She was visibly excited.

“W-What about your parents? Do they know you’re leaving with me?” Amethyst just wanted to make sure she didn’t get in trouble.

“Yeah, I told them. Let’s go!” She headed out the door, and Amethyst followed.

“So what do you need me for?” Connie asked as they headed toward the beach house.

“You  _ sure  _ you wanna know?” Amethyst replied in a skeptical voice.

“What, should it be a surprise?” Her demeanor dropped.

“Well, um. It’s about  _ Steven. _ He kinda got hit with Spinel’s-- oh wait. You don’t know who that is. She’s another gem that came here wanting to kill Steven because she still believes he’s Pink Diamond or just an excuse to leave her alone. She’s also the reason  _ that’s  _ there,” Amethyst pointed to the huge injector slowly draining it’s fluids into the hillside. “Now, Steven’s been in a coma for a week, but just recently woke up. It’s like he doesn’t remember us. I got you because you’re his friend,  _ of course,  _ but also because you might be able to tell us what he has, since, y’know, your mom’s a doctor.”

“Anything to help Steven. And yeah, I do know a few things from when I went to the hospital with my Mom on ‘take your kid to work’ day. It was actually super depressing.” She felt gloomy now, with a faint trace of hope.

“Um, I should mention your mom was here to help us stitch up his cuts. He has  _ lots  _ of them. It’s a wonder she didn’t tell you. Wait, why  _ didn’t  _ she? She should’ve, you’re his  _ friend! _ ” Amethyst said with a questioning face.

“She probably didn’t want me to worry, with all this school stuff. But you’re right, she kinda  _ did  _ make a mistake not telling me.” Connie stared at the ground. 

They were approaching the house, and went inside.

_ Seems like  _ **_those two_ ** _ are still in the temple.  _ Amethyst told Connie to go upstairs, while she got a new bag of blood for Steven.

*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*

The anticipation was rising as she neared his room.  _ What would he look like? Would he be ok?  _ The time came when she had a full view. It was a dreary place to be in. The bed stained with crimson blood, the TV off and broken, it’s shards littered all over, Connie careful not to step in the wrong place.

“S-Steven? Are you ok?” She sat down on his bed, and laid her hand on his. He was pale, almost like he had no blood at all, and he was cold to the touch. 

_ Not good. _

Steven was taking a nap, as no one was there to bother him. But he did start to wake up, to see a familiar face. He just couldn’t quite put a name to it. 

“Steven, I’m rolling up these sleeves whether you like it or not. I’m sorry if it hurts you, but it’s stained with blood and I  _ need  _ to see what went wrong.” She rolled up his right sleeve to the sight of stitched up, bloody cuts taking up the whole length of his arm. Her pupils dilated and small tears began to form at the edges of her eyes. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. Her friend, suffering  **this much** just because a Gem wanted revenge for what his mom did. What he had no control over.

Steven, on the other hand, heard a certain purple Gem coming up the stairs. He turned his face to see her carrying a blood bag, and he didn’t know what it would be used for. Then he saw his left arm. The needle, and the tube connected to it, leading to a small bag that was just about empty of a dark-red liquid. The Gem rushed to connect a new one, and some color returned to his body. The Gem let out a sigh of relief, and so did the girl. 

_ Did...did her name begin with a C? Y-yes, it did. _

“Hey,” He said, looking at Connie, his eyelids threatening to put him back to sleep. He fought to keep them open. The girl turned her head. “Does your name, start with a C? I remember someone’s name starting with a C.” The girl’s face lit up. So did the Gem’s. He tried to smile, but the effort was too much.

“Yes, Steven! Do you remember the name ‘Connie’?” She said, with more hope in her voice than before. She gently pulled his sleeve back down. 

Steven had to think for a moment. 

_ Connie, Connie, Connie. Where have I heard that name before?  _ Then, it suddenly came back to him. 

“Jam Buds?” He actually managed to smile this time. She hugged him, careful of what spots that would hurt him.

“Jam Buds.” Connie replied, struggling to talk through her tears.

“How’d you do that?” Amethyst wondered out loud. She directed the question towards Steven, but Connie answered instead.

“He’s just trying to remember. I think his memories got ‘deleted’ when Spinel hit him, but his own willpower just happened to help us.” Connie said with a smile. Steven gave Amethyst a slight nod. She turned and walked down the stairs, thinking about how she could get him to remember  _ her. _

*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*

Pearl and Garnet were trying to come up with ideas, when Amethyst came back into the room.

“Guys! I brought Connie and he remembered her!” The other Gem’s faces peaked with interest.

“So it  _ worked. _ I  _ told _ you, Pearl. Now, how to get him to remember us?” Garnet gave a thought of unfusing a try, but couldn’t be comfortable with it unless the others agreed it was necessary.

“Should I try  _ unfusing? _ ” She asked. The others agreed because literally  _ trying anything  _ helps right now. 

Ruby and Sapphire landed on the ground gracefully, and hugged each other.

“Maybe that one time we were in Jasper’s ship might help him remember.” Sapphire suggested.

“He  _ did  _ see us laughing and dancing, after all.” Ruby agreed.

“Then go and do it! Tell us what happens. Personally,  _ I  _ won’t go out because I feel it’s not good to overload him with information right now.” Pearl sat down, trying to calm herself down.

Ruby and Sapphire went out the door. They headed up the stairs to meet Connie and Steven. Connie turned to greet them.

“Just so you’re aware, he wants me to stay with him right now, and that I will. He just needs some company right now.” She sat on the ground next to him, but still holding his hand.

“Then are you ok with us asking him things?” Sapphire inquired.

“Sure, I mean, he’s  _ right here,  _ try talking to him yourself.” Then Connie remained silent.

“So, Steven, do you remember  _ us?  _ Ruby and Sapphire?” She said with a little smile. She did a little dance with Ruby and they fused into Garnet.

Steven drew a blank.

“I’m sorry, no.” He replied.

“Not even as Garnet?” She showed off her rings. 

“Nothing.” Steven tried his best to prod his mind for answers, but nothing came up. He turned to take in the ceiling, and it’s features. Garnet looked saddened by the fact. She had seen so many futures where this worked, not even focusing on the ones where it didn’t. She didn’t know what to do from here, and voiced her opinion as such.

“Maybe I should just stay with him for a while. If so, I can promise I’ll do my best in trying to get him to remember. But we really shouldn’t expect him to remember everything,  _ especially  _ after what it’s done to him and how he must be feeling right now. He remembers  _ me, _ at least, so I think we should give him time to get used to how things are.”

Garnet made an audible sigh. “You’re right, Connie. But we won’t give up thinking of ways to have him remember.” She walked down the stairs and into the temple she went. That left Connie and Steven sitting in his room with the soft morning light shining down on Connie’s skin.

“Y’know, Steven, it’s ok that you don’t remember them,” She started, while admiring the sunrise. “Something like this has never happened before, we just can’t expect you to be ok right away. I don’t know  **_when_ ** you’ll be ok. But promise me you’ll try. Even just a little bit every day. You’ll be surprised at how much it helps.” She gave him a little arm-hug.

“ **_I promise._ ** ” His eyes met Connie’s as he gave all his effort to comfort her. He knew he was hurting everyone around him just by speaking, and existing in this state. 

But Connie understood. With Connie, he had the courage to talk and the courage to try his hardest to remember. The strength to get past all the pain, to get past all the worry.

“Connie, you can go now.” Steven was tired ever since he woke up, and wanted to get back to sleep.

“What? No, I’m staying with you!” She protested.

“I’m  _ really _ tired, ok? If you really want to stay, I guess you can go downstairs. I just want some privacy for a bit.” He wanted her to understand, and she did.

“If you need me, let me know.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and headed downstairs.

Now, he was finally alone with his thoughts. He let his eyes pull him into the grasp of rest, and started to dream. He was in the void again, but this time there was a circle of pink lights surrounding him, chiming out a wordless song. He took a second to look at his arms. They were back to before, all the scars gone, and his skin the normal color. But he couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. The lights grew louder and louder, finally making out words.

“ _ Oh, see the savior of the galaxy _

_ Behold him in all his majesty _

_ For he has saved us from the tragedy _

_ We await his presence anxiously _ ”

He had  **_no idea_ ** what this meant, but the pink lights flashed in synchronization as they sung, coming closer as they neared the end of the verse. He started to panic, these lights weren’t actually lights, they were Gems! Rose Quartzes, for that matter! He remembered that they were bubbled in the Zoo, and that he was stuck there with his Dad.

_ Dad! I remember Dad! _

He woke up with a start, and in a cold sweat. He was hyperventilating. 

_ Calm down, Steven. It’s ok. It’s all ok. _

He  _ did _ wake up with one change. He couldn’t see out of his right eye. To anyone but Steven, it looked like he had one normal eye and one diamond eye. But he didn’t know that yet. No one knew that yet. He didn’t have the strength to talk, oddly. Maybe it was the dream that took it away. He tried to get up again, to find someone and get help. 

He had more success getting up this time, and his legs no longer hurt. They  _ did _ have some sort of huge scar going across both of them, but he didn’t care about looking. He stumbled a bit, like he forgot how to walk, but he was able to get downstairs by leaning onto the wall. He got to the corner, and saw Connie sitting on the couch, looking at instructions for one of the various games they owned. Steven managed a moderate croak.

“Connie?” He started to walk, but tripped and started to fall. Connie, already knowing this was going to end badly, ran from where she sat and caught him. He stood back up with her help, and they walked to the couch together.

“Steven, you gotta tell me when you wanna come down. I even told you before you took a nap.” Connie said, kinda annoyed but couldn’t be mad at him in this state.

“I just wanna tell you I remember Dad. It was a very weird process, but I remember him, and no, I don’t want to go into detail.” He sighed and put his arm on his forehead. He just couldn’t deal with all this stress.

  
  


It was too much.


	2. you made a mistake

“Look, we’re sorry for lying to you, Greg. Feel free to come over if you want to see him, he’s your kid, after all.” Pearl hung up and faced Amethyst.

“Seems like he wasn’t happy.” Amethyst commented, her arms crossed. She knew Greg wouldn’t be happy about this. Keeping a secret from Greg, especially about Steven, would anger him severely.

“Would you  _ want  _ him to freak out right after his son almost died when he’s in the care of us? He wouldn’t trust us anymore, Amethyst,” She put the phone down on the brick surrounding the lower part of the lava fountain in the center of the room. “But he did deserve to know now. After all, Spinel’s injector is close to destroying Beach City, and we have no means of stopping it.” Then there was a small rumble, kind of like someone rubbing a balloon. Both their heads turned to see where it came from.

“Dude, was that a bubble?” Amethyst was skeptical.

“Seems so, there’s nothing else in the room that would  _ make  _ that sort of noise. But it’s nothing to worry about.” They turned back and focused on the door.

But it happened again. The bubble popped, and they heard a clink on the floor. Their bodies were the thing that turned around now, and there she was.

Spinel. On the floor and starting to reform. They stepped back, getting their weapons out. She finished and was standing up in a defiant pose.

“Couldn’t wait for me to stay, so you invited me in! I see~,” She said with a smirk and put her hands on her hips. “Oh, and you’ve decided to welcome me with weapons!” Her expression showed no anger. Garnet had walked in on this. She summoned her gauntlets.

“What is she doing out of her bubble?!!???” Pearl questioned Garnet.

“That bubble was meant to keep her forever, there's no way it should’ve popped.” Garnet was angry, and started to charge at Spinel, but she jumped and dodged her attack.

“But it  **_did~!_ ** ” She said with a mocking smile. She landed next to Pearl, and flicked her nose, and giggled. “You guys aren’t  _ nearly _ as nice as Pink! Speaking of her, where is she?? A Pearl, hmm, you’re Pink’s, right? As her servant, you should know where she is!” 

In a voice more like a mumble, Pearl replied.

“That’s none of your business.” She jabbed at her. But she dodged, again.

“What was that, Pearl? Oh wait, I forgot you were there, you were so quiet! So where is she? Where’s Pink?” She threatened to choke Amethyst, who couldn’t voice her opinion on the situation because she was already being held by the throat. She was struggling to get herself free.

“ **_Again, that’s none of your business._ ** ” Pearl said, in a louder and more agressive voice.

“Oh, hun, it  _ really is, _ ” She grabbed Amethyst’s whip and hit Pearl with it so hard she poofed. “Do you two want to tell me where she is, Garnet? Or should I say, Ruby and Sapphire?” She hit them with the whip, and told them to unfuse, which they did. They feared so much for everyone that they couldn’t take the risk. “Such a stupid move.” She hit both of them, too. Amethyst was now crying while trying to squirm her way out. Spinel loosened her grip a little bit so they could talk.

“Now, Amethyst, do you want to tell me where she is? Or do you want to face the same fate as your friends?” She sneered.

“Never in a million years.” She said, visibly protective of Steven.

“ **_Too f***ing bad._ ** ” She squeezed her, and her gem dropped to the floor. Now she could look for Pink. The door was the only thing in her way.

  
  


*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*

  
  


*cough cough* “Ugh…..” Steven woke up and the needle was back in his arm. What was he thinking getting up without trying to take it off?? There was blood on his arm, but now it was gone. 

_ Connie must’ve cleaned it up. And helped me get back upstairs, too. Damn, she’s an amazing friend. _

But now that he was consious again, he heard another voice downstairs. It was deep, and a kind of deep he was used too, taking turns talking to a much lighter voice.

_ Dad and Connie. I wonder what they’re talking about? _

He could barely hear anything other than the occasional “Steven”. Suddenly, he heard people walking upstairs and the converation growing nearer.

“He forgot to take it out before coming downstairs, I don’t think he’s ever been in a hospital before, y’know, to get treated.” Her voice was serious. Steven felt really bad about his mistake.

“Well, he  _ is  _ part gem, I’m sure he heals unreasonably fast. I’ve never taken him to a hospital because I’m afraid they might take him and use him for lab experiments, since its basically a stereotype that the government does that to literally anyone they think is a threat now.” He chuckled, with a hint of worry in his voice. They reached the top of the stairs.

“Well, here he is.” She let Greg walk towards him, and she stood near the TV.

This was too much to take in for him. A pale kid,  **_his, nonetheless,_ ** hooked up to medical equipment with countless scars up and down his body. His eyes had dark bags under them, his eyes barely open, under a bloodstained blanket, struggling to breathe. This was the kid who always had a positive outlook, that believed everything was going to be ok.

“...Steven?” He hesitated to touch his son. But he did anyways, Steven deserved to know his Dad’s here for him. Steven turned his head and opened his eyes a little. Connie took this as a cue to leave, and waited downstairs.

“I’m sorry-” Steven was inturrupted.

“There’s no need to be sorry, Schtu-ball. This wasn’t your fault.” He looked comfortingly at Steven.

“But-” He was inturrupted again.

“Steven. Please. I’m just glad you’re safe.” He gave his son a light hug. Steven started to cry quietly. 

“Dad. I didn’t mean  _ that,  _ I meant that I can’t remember anything besides you and Connie. I don’t even know where I  _ am. _ ” He started to shake, but Greg held him steady.

“Steven, its ok. We’ll help you remember.” He promised this, but he wasn’t sure he could deliver on his promise. This was something that had never happened before, he had  _ no idea  _ what his son was going through physically and mentally right now. Then he heard a loud slam and a scream coming from downstairs.

“ **_HELP!!!!!_ ** ” Connie saw a gem that looked like a threat leaving the Temple, and was trying to defend herself against her. Greg immediately heard her call and told Steven he had to go. Then he ran down the stairs. Steven was ok with that, what was he supposed to do in this state anyways? 

_ But I have to help them, somehow. Maybe I can try to reach them using someone else? But who would it be? _

Then it hit him. He could use Lion! Though he’d never done it before, and had no idea if it would work, he had to try. Hopefully Lion would let him control him, at least for a bit. He made himself go to sleep and try to persuade him.

_ C’mon, buddy, please! I have to help Connie and Dad! _

_ Yes, you can have extra tuna for a month, just let me--- IN! _

He felt his body tumbling towards Lion, and then he opened his eyes. Lion had just switched places to sleep even more.

He had no hands, they were paws now, and his eyes were slitted like Lion’s. He had woken up in Lion’s bed. It felt strange that he had so much strength and energy again. 

He stood up, stretched himself, and roared. He had to get used to teleporting, though it was a weird feeling at first. He landed on the beach, just where he wanted to be. He ran up the stairs and burst through the doors. The pink Gem was bouncing all over the place, and kept trying to grab his dad and Connie. He braced himself, then ran through them all to get behind the Gem. 

“Lion! Can you help us!?” Connie shouted amongst all the fighting. 

Before he could attack, painful strobes of memories went through his head. The Gem and him fighting, and him getting hurt multiple times because of this Gem. He suddenly remembered.

**_You’re the reason my body and mind are like what they are now._ ** **_You ruined my life._ **

He turned the pain into determination to get this Gem back for what they did to him. He launched himself at the back of the Gem (she didn’t bother trying the eliminate the lion she deemed a distraction from the main fight), and opened his jaws in hopes of biting her. He succeeded, and she let out a painful scream. She stopped trying to get Greg and Connie, and focused on Lion instead.

**_Just what I wanted._ **

He doged her attempts to grab him by bouncing around the floor, and finally saw a chance to get her Gem. Connie and Dad were prepared to back him up, and he let loose, grabbing the Gem in his jaws, seeing a glimpse of a surprised face that quickly smiled at him.

“Fine, you got me. But don’t celebrate too soon!” Then she poofed.

Steven landed on the ground, panting and dropping the Gem on the table. He felt worse than he had when he was upstairs. But he recovered quickly.

_ At least Lion can sleep for even longer now. _

Connie and Greg ran up to pet and congragulate him. They didn’t know that Steven did all of that, they just thought it was Lion.

“You did amazing, Lion. Steven would be so proud of you.” She nuzzled him, and he purred. But now it was time to get back. Lion’s body collapsed in what looked like an impromptu nap, and Steven traveled back to his body. Lion was coaxed back to going back to his body, and Steven woke up in his own, smiling. But more scars had appeared, letting more blood flow from his body. 

_ Connie can’t see this. _

Connie raced upstairs, excited to tell Steven what happened.

“You won’t believe this--” Connie heard a weak ‘shhh’ coming from Steven.

“Let me guess- Lion jumped in and saved you all?” He said with the smile still there.

“How did you- wait, did you travel into Lion’s body?” She was really curious.

“Just like what I did on homeworld, yeah, Connie. It was hard making him wanna get out, though!” He chucked. More color had returned to his body with the short-term strength he had managed to get from Lion. Connie was surprised. His friend was  _ almost  _ like his old self again! 

“So you were really the one to save us!  **_Thank you, Steven!_ ** ” But his strength dissipated quickly. His color faded, and his smile faltered. She understood that what he did downstairs took a lot of energy to do, and he must’ve used a lot of it to recover.

“But I do have one last thing to say before you go. I remember her, too. I remember Spinel.”

“Who’s she?” Connie needed to know.

“The Gem we fought downstairs, the one who got me like this,” He moved the sheets to show where more cuts had shown up. They were in the shape of a star around his gem, and looked fresh. “These ones just showed up, after the fight with her. I guess anything active I do, it hurts me even more.”

Then Greg came upstairs.

“Spinel was the Gem who did this to me. The one who put the injector into the earth, even the one who set out to kill me.” He told them in a tired voice.

“Steven, you should probably get some rest after what you just did. We swear, we’ll do whatever it takes to get your memories and the earth back.” She turned around and put her hand on Greg’s back, whispering to him that they should leave him alone. She would explain the whole fight downstairs later, now they just needed to give him some time to rest and some for them to figure out what the hell to do with this new Gem before Steven got even worse.

*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*

The time came for the Gems to regenerate their forms. Amethyst came first, rubbing her head as if it had been hit. Then Pearl, she felt like she had been stabbed. Sapphire came next, reforming and worried if Ruby was ok. But Ruby didn’t reform. She picked her Gem up, and ran to the others.

“Ruby hasn’t come back yet!” She was having a panic attack, she didn’t want to lose Ruby. But she felt like she was overreacting, and calmed herself down before she froze the whole room.

“Maybe she just needs a little more time,” Pearl said in a sympathetic voice. “But it’s very odd she didn’t come back before you.”

“Aren’t Rubies supposed to like, regenerate faster than Sapphires, because they’re a sort of bodyguard? I’ve never been to Homeworld at the time the Diamond Authority was still in power, so I might not be correct. I’m a little rusty on all of it.” She was scratching her head.

“Yes, Amethyst,” She had a calm and collected voice now. She could trust Ruby to come back in time. “But for now, let’s move on. I have a feeling that Spinel’s still right here.” She opened the Temple door to see Connie and Greg sitting on the couch with Spinel on the table, though it appeared she had been poofed.

“Greg, Connie?” Pearl had seen them too, and was confused. Did they poof a Gem all on their own?

“Oh, hey, Pearl.” Greg looked distressed, and didn't want to explain what happened. Luckily, Connie wanted to.

They didn’t like what they heard at first, but then she got to the part with Steven in Lion’s body. She was really excited to tell them, and Amethyst + Pearl smiled. They were proud of him. But Sapphire predicted this would happen, and therefore already supressed her happiness for Steven. Connie didn’t seem bothered, though, but held back the part where Steven showed her the star. She didn’t need them more freaked out than they already were.

“So where’s Steven?” Amethyst asked.

“He’s upstairs. The whole thing really tired him out, so he’s sleeping right now.” She calmed down at that part. Greg looked hopefully at the Gems.

“We were hoping you knew what to do with Spinel.” He looked at the heart-shaped gem.

“Well, we  _ can’t  _ bubble her, you already know what  _ that _ turned out like,” Pearl looked angrily at Spinel. “But we  _ did  _ save a weapon she was about to use on us.” She pulled a stick out of her gem. 

“What’s that?” Connie asked.

“It’s-- it’s a rejuvenator,” She hesitated to say it. She didn’t like to deal with this sort of thing. She had too many bad experiences with it. “They used this back on Homeworld to put Gems back in line. Being hit with this wipes your whole memory.” She pressed the button and it expanded, showing a sycthe made of light.

“Wait, so it’s like a character development resetter?” Connie spoke up.

“..Uh,basically. So maybe that’s what happened to Steven? But he didn’t poof, he got hurt instead. He probably felt physical pain, hence the cuts..” She was worried again. She pressed the button again, and it closed. She held onto it in case Spinel wanted to reform. But for now, they needed to see how Steven was doing. Greg was offered to come up with them, but he said he needed to stay downstiars to keep an eye on Spinel. He had enough excitement for today.

“..Steven?” Connie went ahead of them to make sure he was ready. But he didn’t hear her. He was fast asleep. He turned on his side. Connie could only look at him longingly, with a faint smile.

The others came up. She turned and held his hand.

“See? I told you, he’s tuckered out.” She met their eyes, and walked towards them..

“Damn, dude. You’re really going all out,” Amethyst meant this towards Steven. She walked forward and put her hand on her side. “Take a break.” She backed up.

“So, what are we supposed to do now?” Pearl asked. “He’s clearly not ready to get up, and needs sleep all the time now.” Pearl sighed.

“Seems time is all he needs.” Sapphire stated. “We need to leave him alone and stop checking on him. We need to fix everything else before we get back to him.”

“Agreed.” Pearl said.

“I guess.” Amethyst didn’t want to leave him alone, but she had to.

“Then should we go downstairs?” Connie inquired.

Sapphire lead the way, she couldn’t do anything slowly without Ruby being here.

What were they going to do now?


End file.
